Here are my first impressions on the new Supernatural episode Croatoan. I can't believe we don't get any new episodes for over 4 weeks now. These damn US airing schedules really kill me! /sigh



First off, I have to express that I am torn about this episode: On the one hand it has some immensely touching brother scenes and very important character development for Dean, effectively bringing him to the breaking point, that finally pushes him into telling Sam the secret, but on the other hand it fails to portray the circumstances that lead Dean there believably and hence leaves me dissatisfied and uneasy.

If you have your main character execute a person in an episode and depict him as overall trigger-happy, you need to make the threat tangible and the pressure the character is under needs to transport to the viewer. In Croatoan though, we have a classic case of 'show, don’t tell'! We are constantly told how dangerous the infected people are, but we don’t really see it. Mrs. Tanner is easily incapacitated by Sam and there’s no real sense of danger that arises out of the situation. They are supposedly under a siege, but apart from some shadowy figures that lurk in the dark, there’s no real visual indication for that. The discrepancy in what we see and what we are told has the effect that Dean’s extreme behaviour comes off as overreaction and that doesn’t serve the character.

It’s only Jensen’s acting in the crucial scenes that salvages Dean’s character integrity here, by clearly showing the character’s internal conflict. A more convincing execution of the circumstances though would have supported the character better. It was the first time in the show that I was uneasy with Dean’s actions even if I can rationalise them and I hope they avoid these kinds of flaws in the future.

So, now that I have that point of critique out of the way, I can focus on the rest of the episode. *g* I think this episode leaves no questions open in regard to what we have to expect in the course of this season (or the show): This is the 3rd episode this season that deals with the underlying theme of how people react if they are put in the position to kill people close to them, Gordon and his sister in Bloodlust, Andy and his brother in Simon Said and now the folks in River Grove, killing their neighbours, people they knew all their lives and who suddenly turned into monsters, not to mention Sam and Dean themselves

I was astonished that in their opening discussion in the car, Sam assumes that Dean would kill an innocent person. He comes straight off his vision, clearly still suffering from the impact of its content but with no given context and I am kind of baffled that he concludes Dean would have no valuable reason to kill the guy in his vision. So far Dean has given him no reason to believe such a thing, he was always only willing to kill humans if they were clearly evil or to protect his family. True, Dean was kind of tail-spinning this season, self-destructive to an extent, but killing an innocent person? No way, so why would Sam think that?

Anyway, Dean killed 3 (infected) people in this episode and I think it’s worth looking closer into this, since he makes some quick and harsh decision in this episode, when nobody else is able to make them: For his first kill Dean doesn’t really have much of a choice, Mr. Tanner attacks him and Sam and Dean shoots in self-defence. Although it stands to reason that he could've simply incapacitated him, until he knows more about the situation, there wasn't really much time to think this through.

Now, for Sam the situation is different, he hesitates to shoot a running kid in the back, in a situation where they have no clue what exactly is going on with these people. Sam’s frame of mind is complicated here, he believes that this is what the Demon wants from him, pushing him, making him a killer, so he hesitates and let’s the kid get away. It’s my theory that killing a human being is the trigger for those special kids to become evil. So far in 31 episodes the only being we have actually seen Sam taking out with his own hands is the Rakshasa from ELAC, in all other episodes either Dean takes the final shot or they die off the hands of others. This pattern seems too obvious as to have no reasoning behind it.

The second kill is a much harder one to take: Dean is in a very difficult position here. He hasn’t actually seen the strength, speed and determination of the infected people at that point, he takes the Sergeant’s word for it, that they pose an unstoppable threat once they are at full strength. They are surrounded, there’s no way out and Dean’s objective is to keep Sam safe (see speculation below) and protect the survivors under all costs. To complicate the matter further, Mrs Tanner seems to be perfectly lucid, harmless and terrified, pleading for her life and it’s understandable that the Sarge hesitates to take the necessary steps. So Dean needs to take this on his shoulders, but he doesn’t take this step lightly. He seeks Sam’s affirmation that this woman isn’t a person anymore, before he takes any action and when he does, his face is a careful mask of indifference, but the way the camera lingers on Dean’s expression and his subdued behaviour afterwards, leaves no doubt that he feels conflicted about it.

The third kill was again a situational one: Pam was attacking Sam and as far as Dean is concerned that leaves no room for hesitation.

Dean: "What does that buy us?"
Sam: "A clear conscience, for one!"
Dean: "Well, it’s too late for that!"

Sam and Dean’s confrontation over how to proceed with Duane is very telling here. Dean already gave up his clear conscience when he had to shoot Mrs Tanner earlier, in order to protect those under his care. He makes the hard decisions and goes through with them and he pays with his peace of mind each and every time. Sam might keep his clear conscience, but only at the expense of Dean’s and I think Dean realised this long before this moment and is just giving into the inevitable, pushing Sam away and locking him out. Still, his determination to kill Duane seems disproportionate in regard to the situation: Why not wait, keep him under close watch and see if the sulphur shows in his blood and take him down then? After all he is confined and poses no actual threat at this point. Why is Dean so determined to kill him, before he is sure he is infected?

Speculations about Dean and John’s last words
With all the clues this season about siblings needing to kill their brothers/sisters, John’s emphasis on keeping Sam safe and the huge weight Dean feels on his shoulders, I think that part of John’s words revolved around the fact, that either he manages to keep Sam safe or he is put in the position to kill his brother. That implies that he needs to take any step to prevent harm to Sam and if that means to kill an innocent person, we know he will, he admits that in Devil’s Trap.

In Croatoan this scenario seems to come true, demonic virus, turning innocent people into monsters. What if this is the situation that John warned him about? What if he fails to keep Sam safe? This is a chance he just can’t take, better safe than sorry. Sam is the only thing that keeps him going at all at the moment, we see that later, when he chooses to die with him. So I see him make a 'either I kill this guy or I might lose Sam' decision here and that’s not really a choice for him. Theoretically at least, in practice it looks different as we see just moments later, when he actually tries to shoot Duane.

He doesn’t go through with the kill after all and it’s the bitter irony of this episode that this was actually the kill that would have been justified (not that shooting Duane would've done any good of course). What’s stopping him? I think this ties back to the dialogue they had in the beginning, with Sam suspecting him to kill an innocent person. If he kills Duane, Sam’s vision has come 'true' and after all they still believe in the benevolent purpose of the visions, that they are there to protect the persons Sam sees dying in them. For all his determination, protecting the innocent is the mission he dedicated himself to, so he is in an impossible conflict here and so he let’s Duane go for the moment.

Dean: "I am tired, Sam. I am tired of this job, this life, this weight on my shoulders, man. I am tired of it."

In the end though all his efforts are futile, Dean 'fails' and loses Sam to the virus. The following scenes were probably the most heart-wrenching scenes in a season that really was not short on heart-wrenching scenes so far. :( Sam accepting his fate and offering to kill himself, so his brother doesn’t have to do it; that was just cruel. Dean deciding that with Sam dead there is nothing that keeps him going and that he’d rather die with his brother, than to leave him and save his own life; that just killed me.

This is final (Dean gives away the Impala!) and it doesn’t matter that the viewer knows that it is impossible for them to die there and then, because for the characters this situation is real and therefore the viewer feels it in all its gravity. And it’s only now that Dean is finally able to let the mask of confidence drop that he thought he needed to wear for Sam and admits his defeat. This life took everything from him! There is no point for him to go on when Sam is gone too, he isn’t in this life for revenge and the latest events even seemed to render his 'saving people, hunting things' mantra as hollow. He buckles under everything life threw at him in the last couple of months and that’s just it. End of line, end of story. He doesn’t even sound bitter about it, more worn out, weary.

He admits in their little talk at the end that he was thinking they both were going to die that evening, he wasn’t only there to accompany Sam’s last hours. So, was he planning to wait for his brother to turn, shoot him and then taking his own life? Was he waiting for Sam to turn and allowing him to kill or turn Dean as well? Whatever scenario he imagined, the thought of them going out that way just. kills. me.

Sam is thrown at seeing his big brother giving up on life so easily, going out without a fight. He can’t understand him because Dean held out on him for so long, always keeping his game face in place, but he also can’t accept Dean dying because of him and maybe this makes him understand better how Dean feels about John giving up his soul for Dean. It’s an impossible burden. There is so much love in this scene, so much devotion to each other it makes me weep. Did I mention this show kills me?!?

Dean: "I just think we should take a break from all this. Why do we get stuck with all the responsibility? Why can't we live life a little bit?"

I love their end scene at the lake beyond words. ♥ They just miraculously dodged death and life suddenly seems so bright, worth living and exploring; the stark contrast in scenery beautifully highlights that feeling. Dean’s wish to take a time out with his brother, visiting the Grand Canyon, just live for a while, is so heartfelt and moving and it’s like he learned from this events how to formulate that he wants another perspective in life.

Sam in his younger brother 'I’ll nag you until you spill, just because I know I can' routine is simply adorable. The relative air of easiness and the emotional closeness between the boys in that scene is earned hard and I am sure it is about to be destroyed with the words Dean is about to say to Sam in one way or another. So I revel in that scene, before they throw the next wave of angst towards us. /sigh

What else is noteworthy?

This episode also raises a whole lot of new questions about the demons intentions. So there are no more tests needed? Is he only testing Sam or the other children as well? Were the visions in Nightmare, Salvation and Simon Said also tests? Because Croatoan clearly suggests that the whole vision was a set-up from the demon to get Sam to River Grove and test the virus on him and if all visions so far served the YEDs plans, what exactly did he achieve? Also, with Sam being immune to the virus does that mean that the other children are immune as well? And why was he immune? C’mon we were all thinking it at one point that Sam could at least be partly of demonic origin as well and therefore wouldn’t be susceptible to a demonic virus. :( But then the demon himself wasn’t really sure of this result either or he wouldn’t have needed a test and he was obviously willing to risk his 'special' one getting himself killed over this answer.

So we clearly haven’t enough information yet to formulate a good theory, but something Sam said made me think: The virus is like a demonic germ warfare, a biblical plague. Could mean the demon has plans to wipe out mankind with his demonic virus, only his 'special' kids to survive the plague and raising a new demonic kingdom on earth? If so they’d better secured one of that blood samples. Or maybe I just read too many apocalyptic novels *grin*

Last but not least: The action sequences in this episode were really wonderfully shot: Especially the slow motion effects worked great, from the opening vision sequence to the Impala escape manoeuvre, the camera work was excellent throughout. ♥

So overall, this was an important episode, even if the execution left a lot to be desired. The characters are now effectively moved into the position to deal with the ominous secret that John entrusted to Dean and I am sure it will throw our heroes into yet another crisis! *sigh*